


treasure hunt

by hyuckyang (orphan_account)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Illegal Activities, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Security Guard, Shopping Malls, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-27 03:03:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17758544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/hyuckyang
Summary: How to confess to your lifetime crush, a guide by Na Jaemin:1) Attempt trespassing2) Take it from there





	treasure hunt

**Author's Note:**

> a little bit early for a valentines day fic, but hey - happy love day!
> 
> please enjoy!

Being employed as a security guard did not manage to cross off many boxes in the pros list, as far as Jeno can tell. The hours are rather shitty in the sense that he often had to give up on a good nights sleep in order to fulfill his duties. One may wonder what those duties are, well, without sugarcoating anything; they involved either staring at a monitor in a dimly lit room for hours or if he was lucky enough, walking around an equally as poorly lit shopping mall. 

 

However, it was more than he can bargain for, after all, being a college student did not only come with a pitiful amount of poverty, it also meant that having a ‘’normal’’ job was often far out of the equation. 

 

Which leads him here; slumped down on the uncomfortable plastic chair provided to him, staring into the tapes of one of the security cameras in boredom. The tape he was watching in particular shows a static view of the food court of the mall he was currently employed at. 

 

The clock on the wall above the many monitors placed on the desk indicates that it had just passed 1 AM, therefore meaning that he was only three hours into his shift. 

 

Jeno reaches out for his phone that was placed near the edge of the desk with the help of his feet carelessly. He has to put up a struggle until he manages to finally get a good angle at his kicking, making the phone fly right onto his lap. 

 

One of the main rules underlines in his contract was that under no circumstances was he allowed to play any music, something about it being a risk for distraction. Jeno usually follows the protocols rather effectively, however, he refuses to risk losing his sanity over it. 

 

He has to scroll down his many playlists until eventually spotting the one he was searching for. It was a mixtape created by his cousin Mark, that also worked in the shopping mall, but unlike Jeno, he worked during the working hours in the record store by the third entrance. The playlist was specifically created for moments like these, with songs Mark described as ‘’actual good background noise’’. 

 

By the time the first song is halfway through with half the volume turned up, he decides to pace around the security room to stretch out his aching limbs. The miniature vending machine placed at the corner of the room provides some sort of lighting to the room, which he is more than glad over, even if the buzzing from it makes the experience somewhat less pleasant.

 

The song was just about to fade onto the next one when his phone buzzes against the desk ever so slightly. Jeno used to feel ashamed at the way his whole body would leap forward in order to see if  _ he  _ had texted him, but at this point in his life, he was too far gone to care. 

 

**[1:23am] Jaem:** _ How is work going?  _

 

Jeno pulls his bottom lip between his lips to hide the smile that was threating to break out of his face. He plops on the chair once again and starts typing (and retyping) his message.

 

**[1:24am] Jeno:** _ Boringgg  _

 

As he awaits on the answer rather impatiently, his eyes wander desperately to the bag of Chinese takeout hanging on one of the clothing racks by the door. Eventually giving in to his urges, he quickly grabs it and rips the bag open.  He mutters a low  _ sorry mom  _ to himself before separating the pair of disposable chopsticks provided to him by the restaurant in half. He knows how much his mother had nagged him about eating noodles during the late hours of the night, but his rumbling stomach wins the fight for today.

 

**[1:30am] Jaem:** _ Sorry dude, wish there was a way I could entertain u :p _

 

Jeno is about to send back his reply when something catches his attention. The box of orange chicken in his lap becomes forgotten as he leans forward onto his chair. His eyes wander around the monitors - all the way from the first entrance up to the storage rooms all the way in the back of the building. 

 

With the help of the chopsticks in his hands, he traces the movement jumping between the monitors. Due to the security cameras being a moderately old model, he is unable to tell what it is, thus leading him to his own option; going out there to try to figure out what it is. 

 

The possibility of someone being there during the night does pop into his head as he is rushing through the building to get to the first entrance, but he shoots it down rather quickly because the security in the shift prior to his should have noticed something while they did their last-minute checkup. 

 

Jeno’s steps echo against the silent walls as he leaps forward faster and faster to reach the location where he saw the first movement. The alarm wrapped around his waist bounce against his thigh with each step as a reminder that he will have backup present in less than two minutes if something was to occur.

 

His steps slow down when he reaches the corner of where the entrance is located. He backs up against the wall and takes one step at a time, focusing on not making a sound just to be safe. His ears perk up in case there is any noise that he can pick up, and when he comes empty-handed, he jumps forward.

 

The long hallway is deserted, almost as if he had imagined the whole scene. For safety measures, he starts walking across the hallway. The mall looks rather sinister during the night since all he has facing him are endless of storefront gates. With each step that he takes, his adrenaline levels decrease a level, as there is proven to be nothing extraordinary there. 

 

But just as he lets his guard down, a suspicious object catches the corners of his vision. 

 

‘’The fuck,’’ Jeno mumbles quietly to himself as he picks up the questionable object. He could’ve sworn it was the same Mickey mouse notebook him and Jaemin shared when they went to summer camp that one summer nearly a decade ago. 

 

He knows it's an invasion of privacy, but his hands start flipping the pages before he can figure out what he is doing. Eerily enough, his suspicions get affirmed rather quickly when he opens up the first page to his messy handwriting. 

 

At the bottom of it as a pink sticky note that is too bold for his eyes that had grown accustomed to the shade of dimness surrounding him for the past hours. In the middle of it is a messily written note that gets his full attention;  _ Apple store. _

 

The Apple store is just four stores away from where he is standing, so he quickly rushes over to see if the words meant anything. Below the huge non lit apple sign is another object, just like he had expected. 

 

This time it’s a beanie. A rather boring and mundane object that makes Jeno crack up ever so slightly. His fingers trace the logo of it with a fond smile as his heart skips a beat at the memories linked to it. 

 

The thoughts he has gets put on halt as he hears a soft crinkle when he reaches inside the beanie, his fingers graze against something he assumes is another note. 

 

_ H&M,  _ the note says this time, with the same black sharpie and the familiar neon pink sticky note. 

 

Jeno has to search for the map of the entire mall to locate the said store, since he still hasn’t grown fully familiar to the mall. The store in question is on the second floor, therefore leading him to sprint through the mall yet again, this time in the opposite direction.

 

As he is running, he can’t but wonder what this all means. A growing feeling nag inside his chest, but he still doesn’t dare to indulge himself in his fantasies just yet. 

 

After a significant amount of struggle, he finally manages to climb the turned off escalators. The manual stairs were too far away for his patience, and after a short debate with himself, the fastest option turned out to be the less ideal option as well.

 

He wipes the sweat forming on his temple with the help of his sleeves as he walks towards the large entrance of H&M, the object he needs clearly on display right in front of it. 

 

‘’Goodness,’’ he snorts out as he picks it up in amusement. This time around, he looks around to see if anyone is there before allowing himself to give in into the blush that had slowly made its way on the apples of his cheeks. 

 

It’s a picture frame of his high school graduation. The picture had been taken by Mark, which Jeno hadn’t noticed at that time, but he does now all thanks to the bad angle and the thumb peeking through the left corner. 

 

In the picture is Jaemin and Jeno hugging tightly, with their smiles clearly on view. Jaemin’s cap had turned lopsided because of Jeno’s face just being in the crook of his neck - an action he had done in embarrassment when Jaemin has complimented his ‘’handsome suit’’. 

 

Jeno almost doesn’t want to leave his spot, but the sticky note rubbing against his fingers urges him on to continue on with his treasure hunt, if that is even the correct way to address it. 

 

_ Mcdonalds.  _

 

This time he lets himself take it easy as he walks to the food court on the corner behind the H&M store. The distance isn’t remarkable, and he figures that he needs the time to calm his nerves. 

 

His head buzzes with excitement, to the point where he can feel the effects of it on the tips of his fingers. A shudder makes its way down his spine as the food court comes in view. 

 

It’s comical the way this shopping mall bares a thousand of memories in it; from the time were his mother had to take him here with force, despite crying and stomping on his place like the crybaby he was, to the times where he used to spend every last penny in his bank account on the salty Mcdonalds french fries that made their way more into Jaemin’s mouth than his actual own (even if Jaemin had his own food).

 

Now here he was, walking through it in complete silence reliving every one of those memories completely alone with a hammering heartbeat. 

 

Mcdonalds was the first fast food chain in the line of many. Placed right in the middle of the table in the booth the pair often found themselves spending hours in was another one of his objects. 

 

Except for this time, it wasn’t an object of his. Actually, it wasn’t even an object of Jaemin’s as far as he could tell. It was box wrapped in sleek white color that looked almost holographic underneath the moonlight that peeked through the floor to ceiling windows all along the walls. 

 

_ Terrace. Don’t open yet.  _

 

Jeno’s eyebrows furrow in curiousness as he rereads the note a second time. He decides that he is bound to know soon enough as he pushes down the note with the rest of them inside the pocket of his pants carefully. 

 

The terrace is a closed-off space during the winter time, and despite the fact that February might not be officially classified as winter by some, the mall still deemed it way too early to open up the area. 

 

Jeno shoots the mall one final glimpse of nervousness before pushing open the large glass screen with slightly trembling hands. 

 

At first glance, the terrance looks somewhat empty. The benches that are usually filled with people during the summer times are now wrapped with a plastic cover in order to protect them from any rain or snow. The small play area in the middle of it all stands vacant, only a couple swaying leaves on the round swings give it life. 

 

Then, Jeno spots it, and the breath in his lungs shut down.

 

‘’I could have you arrested for trespassing,’’ he says when he finally remembers how to speak. 

 

The boy in front of him snaps towards his direction, prompting the same smile that had been the center of Jeno’s thoughts for as long as he can remember. 

 

‘’Wow, big bad security guard please don’t hurt me,’’ Jaemin dramatically says he skips all the way to Jeno, grin only growing wider. 

 

Jeno tries his best to rip his eyes off of his best friend, but it’s physically impossible when his eyes twinkle in the way that they do. Jeno lets himself get drawn by it, this time without hiding behind that wall he has carefully built up ever since he first met Jaemin. 

 

Jeno returns Jaemin’s smile just as wide and snickers, ‘’I thought you threw the beanie away.’’

 

‘’You wore it every single day for two whole years, I was so fucking sick of it,’’ Jaemin sighs, his hands reaching for the beanie in Jeno’s hands. He grabs it tentatively and raises it up until it’s hovering above Jeno’s head just the slightest. ‘’Yet somehow, I just couldn’t throw it away, even if I told you I had.’’ 

 

Jeno places his clammy hands on top off Jaemin’s and pushes the beanie down until it’s wrapped a bit uncomfortably around his head. It’s too small now, but he figures it’s the thought that counts. 

 

The action makes Jaemin crack up, small puffs of air leave his lips with each chuckle, traveling slowly up towards the sky before disappearing next to the stars. 

 

‘’You look so ugly,’’ Jaemin says without bite before lowering his hands, letting them awkwardly rest beside his body. Jeno aches to reach out to touch him, which used to not be a problem anymore, but this scene is too tension-filled, and he is terrified that one move might scatter the entirety of it all. 

 

‘’You even kept the notebook,’’ he notes, his hands flicking through the pages. He can pick up a couple of words written on it with their favorite red, blue and green crayons. 

 

‘’Hey now, the stories we came up with could’ve easily made the 2007 Oscar’s nominations,’’ Jaemin jokes, his eyes eying Jeno’s movement,  ‘’They should be lucky we never turned our ideas in.’’ 

 

When Jeno gets too engrossed in reading the broken, messy writing covering the yellow pages of the notebook, Jaemin bumps his shoe on Jeno’s slightly to get his attention. 

 

‘’Hey, open the box,’’ he whispers, tone suddenly sounding nervous. 

 

With a low hum, Jeno reaches to his back pocket where he had put the box at for safe keeping. His eyes are set on Jaemin’s however, observing the many emotions can flash through them. 

 

Jeno always gets complaints about being too fidgety, or too overly excited for his own good, but this time he decides to take it slow to savor the moment. With the uttermost care, he picks apart the tiny tape set to seal the wrap in place. It comes apart without a hassle, displaying a black box inside. 

 

‘’Open it,’’ Jaemin repeats in a breath, his hands clenching and unclenching on his sides. 

 

Jeno gives him a soft nod in confirmation before lifting the top of the box off. 

 

There was nothing that could have prepared him for the context of what was inside of it, despite the fact that he prides himself in knowing everything that there is to know about his best friend, this still came as a surprise. 

 

At least he doesn’t even have to look at Jaemin to know what Jaemin’s expression is, hell he can even feel it. 

 

‘’I can’t believe you,’’ he finally says when the shock has worn off. His eyes search for Jaemin’s, and they give each other a silent look before bursting in  laughter that is way too loud for the time of the day. 

‘’Tell me it wasn’t clever,’’ Jaemin giggles, his words slurring together. He reaches out for the box in Jeno’s hands and bursts into laughter again when he sees the content again. 

Jeno wants to joke around, he wants to tease the boy and tell him how disgustingly cheesy he was - but he couldn't. Instead, he takes one small step forward into Jaemin's own world. He knows that Jaemin has understood what he is intending to do by the glup he takes. Jeno was never the bold one between them, always shying away, but there was something about the air that gave him the final push to tilt his head to meet Jaemin's lips. 

The first press is no other than a soft grace, almost as two butterfly wings delicately fluttering against each other. Jaemin's mouth feels warm against him, a contrast from the coldness engulfing them. He shivers, making Jaemin to lowly chuckle against his lips. 

Jaemin's hands travel up his body until they rest comfortably between his shoulder blades and neck. The touch makes Jeno tingle in a way that makes him gasp, the sound leaving his mouth changes the whole dynamic of their kiss. 

 

It's still gentle, but Jaemin has taken the lead to deepen the kiss, creating sparks between them. He opens his mouth, letting Jeno in. Jeno of course, takes up on the offer gladly, slowly tracing the curves of his mouth with slow motions. 

Jeno registers the way Jaemin tastes like the god awful coffee he so much enjoys, and for the first time in his life, Jeno thinks that perhaps this is the most perfect taste he has ever tasted. Coffee might be addicting, but Jaemin was so much more. 

He loves the way Jaemin melts into him as if all those years of constantly, hesitantly walking around each other had finally washed off of them. Jeno grips hold of his waist as a way to hold him up, who knows, perhaps even hold himself up as well.

 

At some point, Jaemin has started gasping, small noises of huffs and puffs all swallowed by Jeno's lips. He loves the feeling to the point where he truly fears the fact that this might just be his new obsession. 

 

''If you couldn't tell, this is my way of asking you to be my valentine,'' Jaemin pants out against his lips when they finally part for air. 

Jeno can only wrap his arms around his best friend in happiness and nods against his uncovered neck, ''Pretty lame and not to mention illegal way of doing it.'' 

 

 

Inside the box in a bright neon pink sticky note with two simple words; _ Jaemin’s heart.  _

 

**Author's Note:**

> who else would do such a grand love confession if not the lovely na jaemin? 
> 
> i hope you enjoyed it, and i also hope it made your valentines feelings extra sparkling heh, <3 
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/chainbelt) / [cc](https://curiouscat.me/belt)


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